New Music Tuesday: 12-13-2011

Happy Tuesday everybody! The winter has set in and the “Best of 2011″
lists have started popping up everywhere. For the safety of everyone
around me when I can’t sleep at night and start going crazy, I’ll
refrain from posting my own.

I am unfamiliar with Gainsbourg’s first
two albums but her last release, IRM,
made me an instant fan. This new release isn’t exactly new at all –
it’s made up from leftover songs from a collection of live performances from the Beck-produced album. Stage Whisper
not only stands on its own, but I’m inclined to say I like it even more
than her previous release. It starts out with a bang in the Industrial
sounding single, “Terrible Angels,” and moves into the electro-funk of
“Paradisco.” What follows is a mixture of more subtle tunes that flow
into one another so smoothly that you barely notice until all of a
sudden the live portion of the album starts. I am really loving this
and think it’s a fantastic idea to give listeners an automatic concert
experience and show them what they might be missing out on when
Gainsbourg comes to town.

I need this in my life and I need it
badly. I was a late bloomer when it came to even finding out about the
greatness of mope-rockers, The Smiths,
but I’ve made up for lost time and this tribute is packed with
incredible covers by Girl in a Coma
(whose name comes from a song of the same name by The Smiths), Kitten (note: not to be confused
with Kittie), Tanya Donelly and others. Much like
live albums, I’m not usually into a compilation of covers, but this one
is unusually great.

Since there aren’t a whole lot of new releases at the end of the year,
please accept this birthday gift I made for Trish last week in place of
more mini reviews. Also, make sure you come back tomorrow for Your Weekly Women to Listen to!